


Follow the Static

by DawnOfMan



Series: End of the world as we know it [1]
Category: OC world
Genre: F/M, There is previous story but this can be stand alone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-11-13 20:03:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11192427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawnOfMan/pseuds/DawnOfMan
Summary: Topaz gets a distress call from a caravan and decides to go and help them with the help of Onyx her Beta team colleague





	Follow the Static

**Author's Note:**

> This is more of a RP that died horrifically and then I carried it on using my two characters. If theres bits wrong I will add to it but this was a draft. Im working on other things at the moment so I didnt want it to be deleted! So you guys gals and everything else get this crappy masterpiece to read

A raspy voice sounded over the radio on the table in the mechanic station. Topaz had bunked down on a camp bed for the night after changing the fuel injector of one of the quads.The message fizzled in and out like it was out of range and woke the sleeping girl who frowned and sat up wondering what the noise was. She checked her walkie, nothing. That was strange, if she was contacted it would be on that, after all she wasn't the coms guy aka Riley. The radio on the desk was old, found at a recon and was going to be scrapped for parts, no particular frequency was tuned into. Topaz walked over and tapped it gently with her oily fingertip. It began sounding again, hissing with static then a voice came through- "...We ne- help- .... Survivors- Hurr- West- ..." it was pretty indecipherable after that. Topaz grabbed the old microphone and flicked a switch to reply directly. "This is Beta patrol 2 of C-03 speaking, can you state your colony number and coordinates please over?" she said and then flicked the switch back to hear the reply, if any. This was the first time something like this had happened, if these people were from another colony then they were valuable enough to warrant a rescue mission if they were still viable. The static burned her ears, "*insert broken coordinates* -rry -06". There were a few scrawled notes on her paper. That was all she could muster from the message. 'Dammit. Colony 6? But they are so far away, we would usually have to contact someone as a mediator just to get in contact with them, if that ever happened... Someone so far away isn't really our problem but if they are in signal range then we'd have to help... Right?" She thought for a moment and decided that she would ask to recon the people on the radio.

~~~

"What do you mean no?" she exclaimed fixing her goggles in her blue hair.  
"It would take too long because its night, you would have to wait till dawn to even- " boss replied but was cut off.  
Topaz tried a different approach, "think of the loot we could get with them, we don't have any large vehicles here, they cant have been on quads, that distance..."  
"Topaz look, I know you love your-"  
"What if it was us out there?"  
"it isn't, because we don't send you thousands of miles away from the hub"  
"urgh!" she grunted, now irritated and left, slamming the door behind her.  
"I bet other colonies would try and help us if we got into trouble..."  
Like headlights turning on in her head she walked into the dorms and used a cloned card to get into Onyx's room. "Charlie" she whispered at the bed.  
"Topaz? What are you doing? I told you never to call me that..." he said monotone, half from annoyance, the other half because he was still dozey from being asleep. "I didn't want you to be startled..." she whispered again. The woman explained what had just happened to the man covering his face with his arm. Of course if it hadn't have been her he would have beat down on the person who breached his room and saw him without his gasmask on. Even so he still kept his face covered. She knew the deal, reveal anything and have hell open up and swallow her. "You want us to leave now?" he asked sitting up and fixing the mask from his bedside table onto his face. His blonde hair stuck out of the straps at the back, "what about Riley and Ruby?"  
"Ruby is with R1 at the moment so she's over on north side and Riley would never agree to something so stupid"  
"you admit its stupid"  
"has that stopped me before?"  
He didn't reply to that only exhaled deeply and stood,  
"Fine." The two headed to the mech room and suited up a little. It would be cold outside and the night was the creatures domain so any armour they could grab would be advantageous since they were a two man squad right now. "we need to disconnect the wiring on the gate but keep sending a false signal through to stop the alarm going off in the monitor station, you take one of the buggies out since it holds more people while I do it". She took out a little device that was hooked up to her computer and started to run a programme on the main hard drive. Once everything was set up it could be triggered remotely from that little device later. In the meantime Onyx had prepped the car with med kits and supplies they would need for the journey ahead. "Ready?" Topaz asked, again to a silent answer that brushed her off yet again as an idiot for doing this. Onyx didn't need words to convey exactly what he was thinking, it always came across loud and clear. She sighed and raised her mask, lowered her goggles and opened the door into the decontamination blast room. She got into the car and they drove onto the pressure plate that initiated at 30 time period before the door would close and the air filter to come on before the outside door would breach. Luke warm air was cycled into the room in place of the air that was with them and the outside door opened. Onyx drove forwards to the gates a few hundred metres away and stopped short of them  
few hundred metres away and stopped short of them so his partner could get out and tamper with the circuitry. She clamped a little box onto the wires which still, for the moment, had electricity running through it until she pressed the little one in her hand. The box rerouted the current around the circuit and kept the all clear signal to the monitor room. She pushed the gate open and Onyx drove through. Once he was she shut it again and pressed the button so the power in the gate came back on so the colony would remain safe from harm. She got back into the car and the two headed towards the coordinates under the dark of night. 

The buggies headlights didn't penetrate very far in the dusty air but just far enough that the driver could avoid danger if they were quick enough. "You think we will make it in time?" Topaz said after about an hour of awkward silence. They hadn't encountered more than a bug the size of a dog which Onyx promptly ran down and then reversed over. That harboured anger from earlier had dissipated a little after that. "Probably not" he replied checking the rear view mirror then continuing onwards. It was going to be at least a 7 or 8 hour drive before they made it anywhere near, it would be day by then making them easier to spot and less of a target to the night crawlers. 

~~~~~~

The sun began to rise over the horizon in the east illuminating the ruins of dusty roadways and settlements. Onyx looked over at Topaz whose eyes were closed. She was breathing softly in the passenger seat with her blue haired head resting on her shoulder. The gasmask was still secured tightly to her face so there was no need for concern. He slowed down after another hour and checked the paper for the coordinates again. He couldn't see anything yet and rolled the buggy forward until something caught his eye shining on the wasteland. A caravan. It looked pretty beat up. "Topaz" he said then nudged the girl with his elbow. "What uh huh" she slurred lifting her head. There was a line of drool for her lip to the inside of her mask which she had no other option than to suck back up. "This the place?" she asked. He nodded. Topaz scanned ahead with a pair of binoculars. The caravan had lots of scratches and dents in it, like it had been bombarded by crawlers and the metal hadn't oxidized yet so it was recent, maybe last night? Or over the course of their journey? "I see someone" she said, "in the window of the caravan". The girl passed the binoculars over to Onyx, "at least someone's still alive" she said.  
"there banging on the window, they've seen us" he said. Their vehicle was still far away but without any cover they could be picked out easily on the horizon. "Lets go help then" Topaz said making sure the seatbelt was ready to be taken off. "Hold on they're not at the window anymore" he said. He put down the binoculars and moved the buggy forward without revving to keep it quiet. "maybe they locked themselves in and broke down" Topaz chuckled. The pair got out from the vehicle and Onyx got his L-sat from the back seat. Topaz got out her pistol and walked up to the caravan door. She knocked, "you guys need any help in there?" she joked to lighten the mood a little. There was sound of movement inside and muffled sounds. Topaz stood slightly to the side and turned the handle expecting it to be jammed but it opened too easily, without her... The force of the door swinging back at her knocked her down but what burst through the opening startled her more. People. People without gas masks on. The doctor had thought after numerous tests that the man back at base was a genetic fluke that it couldn't be passed down generations but apparently he was wrong. Onyx raised his gun to start shooting but was cracked on the back of the head. Vision burred and diminishing he fell to his knees. Still conscious he managed to turn and shoot at the blurry figure behind him, spraying bullets into the body which made a thud on the ground. Topaz shot a few rounds into another of the men. One jumped on her prone position and started to wrestle her from her weapon. He crushed her hand in his making her drop her gun reflexively. The man was heavy, tanned and had a piece of rag around his face. No mask. She couldn't get over the fact that there was no mask. Topaz fought him with a few good punches to the face in between him grappling her arms and wrists and started to crawl away to stand up but was dragged backwards in the sand. Onyx felt dizzy and stumbled back to his feet, turning at the others that he saw and shooting everything regardless but with his vision like this he didn't want to hit Topaz. He could hear her shouting and tried to move to her but was hit down again with a hard force to his back. He coughed as the air was knocked out of him and slumped to the side unable to use his body effectively.  
Topaz looked in the open door while she was being dragged. The one people from 6 was dead, mask off, another, a female, beaten and being pulled out down the steps by her hair. Topaz kicked and fought was hit in the back of the head to stop her moving which knocked her out. Onyx couldn't hear her anymore. He still tried to raise his gun but it felt ten times heavier in his hands. The barrel never left the ground before he fell forward in the sand.

~~~

Topazes eyes slowly opened. She was sitting in a dark room on the floor propped up against the wall. It was colder in here than it usually was outside which was dark by the look of it. Although on second thoughts the lack of light may not have been because it was night. She tried to raise her head but was met by a stabbing pain when she did so. It started to subside a bit leaving only a dull ache as she brought her hands up to her face. The mask was there. Great. She wasn't minutes away from dying perhaps hours depending on what time it was now. Those bandits, they had obviously taken her, she would still be outside if someone hadn't have come along. "Onyx" she called, mouth dry and voice hoarse, "Onyx". She felt her eyes puff up and felt around on the sandy dirt for anyone around her. Anyone. Being alone with her cars was one thing but-... she sighed and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. There was commotion outside the room she was in, footsteps, voices and an awful dragging sound. She stilled herself and a door opened revealing light. Two men were carrying a limp body which they slung into her room with a thud. It had blonde hair. She instinctively crawled forward to it and turned him over. Onyx was breathing shallow breaths but was alive. Very much alive. It was like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders and she couldn't help but silently rejoice.  
The men then came for her. They picked her up by her armpits. Topaz tried to hold onto Onyx's body, "no no NO!" she yelled struggling. She kicked the ground and almost broke free but then was gripped once more. The men took her to another room with an iron chair in it and sat her down- hard. She shook and moved in the chair but her wrists and ankles were tightly bound to it with leather straps. "Who are you?" she demanded, "what do you want?!". The two men laughed and another joined the room.  
"You're a feisty one like your friend" he said, "he lost his puff pretty quickly though, it seems you cant breathe the air for very long" he said pointing to his face where a mask wasn't. Topaz looked side to side even with the pain as one of the original men stepped closer and put his hand near her head. He reached for the mask and gripped the edges pulling it up over and off completely. She had time to catch only a few deep breaths. "Lets keep this quick, for your sake" he said pacing back and forth. The man who had just come in smiled. His teeth were blackened and some had broken or come out completely. Topaz held her breath. The vital minute would only begin once she started breathing the air. "Give me the coordinates of your colony" he said rubbing his chin. Topaz shook her head still holding her breath. "Okay girly you are just prolonging this you know", he laughed, "It doesn't matter to us if you die, we always have your friend in there, we can just keep taking his mask off and on till he dies a slow and painful death because of you!". She winced, the burning in her lungs becoming more and more apparent. Her eyes must have said it all because the man asked again. "Coordinates now" he demanded. The strain on her lungs was too great and she took a breath, "why?" she asked panting a little. "Your great great great whatever number it is grandparents left for those lovely colonies with food and water and supplies and safetyyyy and left anyone who couldn't pay their way that managed to survive the disaster out in the dust not even metaphorically speaking so look who's laughing now"  
She felt her muscles begin to burn, the pain was increasing little by little as the seconds passed. "We could have aided you under nicer pretences but sorry I think I'm not going to donate to this charity" she said now shaking, everything hurt, her eyes felt like they'd pop right out of her head, no doubt bloodshot and bulging. She thought about Onyx... She couldn't put him, the robot man, though that fate, there were feelings in there somewhere but the colony was at stake. She wasn't as strong as he was though. "Looks like we will just go back to using your friend then" the man said.  
Topaz was near passing out from the pain. She lulled her head round and to her surprise her mask was reattached giving her time to breathe clean air and clear her blood of some of the toxin though that would take some time. "Ill huh huh tell y-" she cut off and feigned unconsciousness. Having her eyes shut beckoned for the real thing but it seemed to work. "Urgh, take her back to the cell" he said and left the two others with her. They undid the bindings. "She's pretty, we could always have our way with her first" one said rubbing his grimy hand over her breast. "Stop that" the other said, "he'll kill us if he finds out"  
"he wont he wont"  
The feeling was disgusting, she couldn't be 'awake' or they'd start torturing again although this was torture enough. One pulled her and the others hand slipped off, a welcome jolt... They then proceeded with their actual job of returning her to the cell. Dumped hard on the ground she layed there, mask in the dirt until the light streaming in disappeared. Onyx was a little to her left breathing a little more normally now. Still unconscious. Topazes muscles hurt to much do do anything but roll over onto her back next to her partner and lay there for a moment. The earthy smell still stuck to the mask. By now people would realise they were missing back at base. They'd come barrelling in in a blaze of glory and- "Topaz", the girl opened her eyes, "You're on my arm" Onyx whispered. He didn't sound angry, more relieved... Or monotone, it was hard to tell from a whisper or robot man. He took a moment to speak again "Where's the girl from six?" he asked flexing his fingers to get blood flow back. "I haven't seen her" Topaz said still panting to get her breath. Onyx sat up and checked the back of his head and back for any wounds from being hit. There wasn't anything except lumps and most likely bruising but even so they hurt. "How are you feeling?" he asked looking down to Topaz in the darkness. "Tired, my whole body aches" she replied "and you?"  
"Tired"  
"Well that was an endearing conversation" she mused. It was nice just having this with him though. "My caaar" she then exclaimed but was nudged by Onyx to keep it down. "My baby's going to get torn apart by these monsters" she said sadly.  
"Yes"  
"Dammit Onyx you wouldn't know, you've never loved anything"  
He fell silent as did Topaz, "I didn't mean it like that" she said trying to dig her way out of the hole she had dug. "How long have we been here?" he asked, "The filters will need changing". The random change of topic showed he was either upset or miffed at what Topaz had said. It was like playing guess the emotion but either option picked it was bad. "Onyx?"  
A short "mmm?" in reply was made.  
"I can just build another car don't worry"  
A loud exhale came from him and shuffling as he stood up. He took off a glove and felt his way around the room. It felt bumpy and cold like it was subterranean. The wall was hard though like rock that was chipped away or a cave system. No wonder there wasn't light in here. He then kicked something on the floor in the corner. He crouched and felt down. It must have been the girl from six. She still had her mask on but as Onyx felt her skin and then her neck for a pulse she was undoubtedly deceased. "Found six" he said and then walked back. "Mask on, must have been the filter, we need a plan to get out but only when you're okay to walk". Topaz nodded in the darkness, "Yeah" she replied. It would seem he recovered faster than her or at least was pushing himself through the after effects of breathing the toxic air. "I can take them out when they come through the door next" he stated, "we don't want to be caught off guard so you need to bring them in, throw a fit like I'm dead or something" he said. Topaz flinched, he hadn't heard her before right? He was unconscious... "Yeah, ill try to put on a convincing show" she replied. "Not till you can run" Onyx confirmed leaning on the wall beside the door in case they did come before they were ready.  
"No sir" she said, "Look who's all talkative now, does it really take such a dire situation to get some sentences out of you?" By the end of what she was saying she had run out of breath again and panted.  
He grunted in response.  
"Now, that's, not fair".  
Topaz frowned and concentrated on breathing. It was quiet in the room. The far off sounds of people sometimes broke it but quiet all the same. The quiet minutes gave her time to think. Like that space between going to bed and falling asleep which could either be filled with fun memories of the day or regretful instances that rear their ugly heads. The thoughts that were running through her head were the latter. Why she chose to come, why she dragged Onyx into it. "I only wanted to help" she whispered. There was no reply either meaning her understood or he just didn't care. It must have been about 10 minutes before she felt well enough to make a break for it. It felt like hours. Onyx rolled his shoulders, still in his leathers he couldn't be seen at all standing there in the black abyss. "I'm ready..." Topaz said shakily, doubting whether this was indeed the right course of action. Now or never. Life or death. Onyx grunted back in acknowledgement and she took a breath and started a long moany scream intermittent with sobbing and "wake up!" and "don't leave me!" The sounds rung out of her mouth, through the door and down the tunnels. Onyx could hear footsteps and talking. "Fucking hell, looks like we accidently killed one" one said to another, "were in trouble, fucking shut her up".

The two men neared the door and one put their hand on the lock and slid it across. The light that flowed in as the doorway opened was dazzling making Topazes eyes squint. Topaz continued to call out and the men came in. Onyx rushed forward and slammed his elbow into the other males neck, breaking the spine with a hefty crack. The other threw a punch at him but he dodged, even if it was a little slower to usual which meant the fist clipped his shoulder. He wasn't a stranger to getting hit, especially when he was in training or out in the field so it didn't affect him too much. The sudden burst of energy used a lot of oxygen in his body. More than he had anticipated making his movements more sluggish. He swung again and was evaded but he used his whole body to ram the man into the wall. The wall crumbled a bit from the impact and fell to the floor. The man on the other hand remained upright, much more sturdy than his counterpart. Topaz got up and grabbed one of the larger chips of rock that had felled and rammed it into the mans temple. He staggered, Onyx stepping out of the way and then the man dropped to the ground with a dull thud. "Run" Onyx exclaimed, breathlessly. They exited the dark cell and continued down the rat run of corridors. Moving this much really was taxing on them. As they stumbled through they passed several more cells, most had no one in, one in particular had a rhythmic knocking from inside. Bang. Bang. Bang. Topaz slowed to a stop panting, her partner secretly glad of the respite. She knocked back three times and the bangs stopped. There was a pause. "Stop playing with me! Let me out!"


End file.
